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Nadia meant no harm, but was asked a question and answered without thinking about the consequences.

Sharapova Injury Review

(Mar 6, 2009) Former # 1 Maria Sharapova has withdrawn from the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, California, which begins March 11. Maria is not yet ready to play as she recovers from a torn right shoulder rotator cuff tendon she incurred in the Spring of 2008 (see stories below).

Although videos from the Bollettiieri Academy in Bradenton, Florida, have shown that Maria is working very hard to get ready to play, the videos also show that Maria is still doing some of her practicing left handed, to avoid overtaxing her right shoulder.

(Feb 4, 2009 revised Feb 5 & 6) Former # 1 Maria Sharapova has withdrawn from both the Paris indoor tourney (Feb 9) and the following week's tourney in Dubai (Feb 16). Maria is not yet ready to play as she recovers from a torn right shoulder rotator cuff tendon she incurred in the Spring of 2008 (see stories below).

Maria said: "I'm very disappointed to be unable to compete in the upcoming Open GDF SUEZ and Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships, both of which are great events that I was very much hoping to be able to play. My shoulder continues to improve every day and I am working very hard on the practice court...

"I have been training in Florida the last few weeks and really working hard on getting the strength back in my arm. It's really amazing how you can do all the exercises and rehab in the world but nothing substitutes the time you spent on court running and hitting hundreds of balls. The biggest lesson I have learned throughout this whole process is that it takes so much patience to get back to where you were physically. You are never really going to forget 'how' to hit a tennis ball but what you do forget is how much work and repetition you must put into every single day in order to get back to where you were. And the only way to get back into good shape is by playing tennis. Unfortunately just because the doctor fixes the problem and gives you the green light to practice doesn't mean that you can just go out there playing tournaments. Yesterday I played my first few points with serves in about 6 months which was pretty exciting! Right now I'm aiming for Palm Springs [Indian Wells], or Miami, depending on how things shape up. I cannot wait to get back to playing tournaments!"

(Jan 11, 2009) 2008 Australian Open champion Maria Sharapova has withdrawn from the 2009 Australian Open.

Maria said: "I am very sorry to announce that I am not going to be able to defend my title at this year’s Australian Open. My shoulder is doing great, but I just started training a few weeks ago and I am just not near the level I need to be to compete at the highest levels." AO story

Maria's torn right shoulder rotator cuff tendon, originally injured last March, was not healing properly by October. So on October 15, Maria had arthroscopic surgery in New York.

On Dec 30, Maria said: "The procedure was successful and very simple. I left the hospital a few hours after the procedure and flew to my home in Florida for 3 days and then I flew back to Phoenix to start working on my shoulder... Dr. Altcheck thought my recovery would be very fast and he was right. I had full range of motion after 14 days, after 6 weeks I was throwing a football and after 8 weeks I was back on the court where I belong...

"I am trying to do everything possible to be ready for Australia, but I have promised my doctors, coach and family that I will not rush back. Since I only started practicing 16 days ago... But the great news is that we have taken care of the problem that has been bothering me so much over the last couple of years..." mariasharapova.com

(Oct 2, 2008) Former WTA # 1 Maria Sharapova is out for the rest of the season due to a torn right shoulder rotator cuff tendon. On her website, Maria said: "I've been progressing really well, but the recovery is taking a lot longer than I had selfishly planned. Therefore, my team and I decided to `shut it down' for the season."

(Aug 1, 2008) # 3 Maria Sharapova will withdraw from the 2008 US Open (Aug 25) as well as from the Beijing Olympics, because she has a torn right shoulder rotator cuff tendon. Maria had been unknowingly playing with the tendon torn since April.

Maria had an MRI scan on Thursday, which disclosed two small tendon tears in her shoulder. Maria was thus forced to withdraw from next week's 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

On her official website on Friday, Maria said: "Well my 24 hour medical tour came to an end yesterday after I met [in New York] with Dr. David Altchek who is the premier shoulder doctor in the world. He looked at all my tests from April and today and informed me that I have been playing with a moderate tear in my rotator cuff tendon since April. He actually couldn't believe that I've been playing this long with this injury. You can imagine that I was not very thrilled to hear that my medical team did not see this tear in my shoulder back in April.

"The good news is that it didn't get much worse since April but we could have started the healing time back then instead of now.

"He does not believe that I need surgery and is sending me to work with a specialist in Arizona next week to do extensive rehab and strength work and he believes that I should be ready to play in 2-3 months."

Maria has struggled with right shoulder problems for over three years. In a newsletter from her website dated July 29, Maria said: "[After Wimbledon] I spent many hours of each day working with Prince on different rackets and string. Ever since Indian Wells and that backhand incident, I haven't been able to get my arm up and close to my head without some sort of impingement and grinding... so I've been trying different rackets with different weight balances that are a bit more flexible and the strings looser to get as much tension away from my arm as possible.

"So for the last week I have been playing with a new frame...I'm usually very sensitive to any minor changes and we usually do this in the off season, but we really had no choice this time. Apart from that I spent a good ten or so days concentrating on my fitness and in the last week been playing a few practice matches etc."

(Jul 31, 2008) 3rd-seeded # 3 Maria Sharapova withdrew from the Rogers Cup in Montreal on Wednesday evening after aggravating an ongoing right shoulder injury while defeating # 58 Marta Domachowska, 7-5, 5-7, 6-2. Maria will have an MRI scan on Thursday, and then decide if she must withdraw from next week's 2008 Olympics in Beijing to give her shoulder time to heal before the US Open.

Maria said: "It's obviously unfortunate. You try to do every little possible thing you can. But at the end of the day when you go on court and you're thinking about aggravating things, you're thinking about an injury, it's not really the way to play. It's tough to go on court and not be close to even 50 per cent. I'm too good of a player to go out there and try to fight through something that can eventually become something serious."

Maria has struggled with right shoulder problems for over three years. In a newsletter from her official website dated July 29, Maria said: "[After Wimbledon] I spent many hours of each day working with Prince on different rackets and string. Ever since Indian Wells and that backhand incident, I haven't been able to get my arm up and close to my head without some sort of impingement and grinding... so I've been trying different rackets with different weight balances that are a bit more flexible and the strings looser to get as much tension away from my arm as possible. So for the last week I have been playing with a new frame...I'm usually very sensitive to any minor changes and we usually do this in the off season, but we really had no choice this time. Apart from that I spent a good ten or so days concentrating on my fitness and in the last week been playing a few practice matches etc."

(April 1-4, 2008 revised) Maria Sharapova has entered both the Bausch & Lomb Championships at Amelia Island, April 7-13, and the Family Circle Cup at Charleston, April 14-20. Maria had withdrawn from the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami to rest her sore right shoulder.

(March 21-27, 2008 re-revised) # 5 Maria Sharapova has withdrawn from the Sony Ericsson Open citing a right shoulder injury, which, apparently, is not major. After her first loss of the year (to Svetlana Kuznetsova in the Indian Wells semifinals) on Friday, Maria said: "...My body is kind of hurting a little bit."

Shoulder pain, which kept Maria sidelined often from 2005-2007, occured during her 4th round win over Alona Bondarenko. Maria's agent, Max Eisenbud of IMG, said: "She's going to take a week off and not play any tennis... It was nothing major, but after everything that happened last year, she was a little scared... She has a very loose shoulder. It helps with the serve because she gets that extra whip, but the problem is that when fluid gets in there it's very hard to treat and hard to get out." South Florida Sun-Sentinel story

At Key Biscayne on Wednesday, Maria said: "I think I sort of jammed it a little bit, so I wanted to give it some rest... There are good things and bad things to having a loose shoulder. I'm very flexible and my joints are very loose. In a way that's very good because your body is not tight, but on the other hand you're very loose and more prone to getting injured." interview transcript

About requesting a wild card for either of the two tourneys following Miami, at Amelia Island and Charleston, Maria said: "If I'm ready, and if I've had a good week or nine days of practice, then I would definitely consider taking those wildcards."

(Oct 15, 2007) # 4 Maria Sharapova has withdrawn from the Zurich Open due to a right shoulder injury which has troubled her all year. Maria was the Zurich champ in 2006, and the withdrawal means she will have no chance to "defend" the ranking points she earned there last year (ranking points last 52 weeks, and are then subtracted from a player's total).

Maria also won the following week's tourney in Linz, Austria, last year. As she has not yet clinched a place in the season-ending WTA Championships, if she cannot play in Linz next week, she might be done for the season--which would, at least, give her shoulder a couple of months to heal.

Maria said: "I'm very sorry to be missing the Zurich Open. I really wanted to play here, but my health comes before my ranking." tourney story

(Jul 9, 2007) Due to a lingering right shoulder injury, # 2 Maria Sharapova has withdrawn from the Fed Cup semifinals July 14-15. The USA is hosting Russia at Stowe, Vermont. On her official website, Maria said: "I still have a tremendous amount of swelling in the area." Doctors have told Maria to rest for 10 days.

(May 10, 2007) # 2 Maria Sharapova has withdrawn from next week's Italian Open in Rome due to an ongoing right shoulder injury which has plagued her since January, as described below. Right shoulder problems also impaired Maria's performance and forced her to miss several events in 2005.

On her official website, Maria said: "I am going to have to pull out of Rome today, my body is slowly getting better but in no way will I be ready to play in Rome. It is such a shame because I like playing in Rome and I have to pull out two years in a row. I just want to let my fans know that I am doing everything possible to be ready to play the French Open."
Unless Maria makes a late entry into Strasbourg or Istanbul, she will have no clay court match play to prepare her for Roland Garros.

(Apr 3, 2007) # 2 Maria Sharapova will be sidelined for 5 to 6 weeks due to right shoulder and left hamstring injuries. Maria has withdrawn from next week's Family Circle Cup in Charleston, and will also not be able to make her planned Fed Cup debut for Russia against Spain on April 21-22.

In a statement on her official website, Maria said: "I haven't wanted to talk a lot about my injuries, but I'm afraid it has become obvious that I am having some problems with my right shoulder and left hamstring.
"I hurt my shoulder right before I started playing in Hong Kong [at the Watson's Water Challenge in January], and kept hoping that I could work through it. I was told by doctors I had pretty severe inflammation, but decided to give it a shot. I think the anti-inflams and treatment helped me get through H.K and Australia. Unfortunately, my shoulder hasn't been able to be normal on its own, without the medicine.
"My doctors have a positive outlook, despite telling me I cannot play for a while. They said I must drop out of the next two events, but they are confident that, with five or six weeks of rest, I will be ready for the next events.

"I am especially bummed about the Fed Cup, as I was looking forward to playing in Moscow, and representing my country in a team environment for the first time. I will be speaking with the Russian Federation soon about future matches. The Family Circle Cup is always a great event, and a tournament I look forward to competing in again.
"It's difficult for me to take time off from tennis, but the first thing is my health and that's something that I have made a big priority in my career. I can only look forward to getting back on the court ASAP. Thanks, as always, for your support."

(Sep 24, 2005) # 1 Maria Sharapova retired from her semifinal match at the China Open in Beijing due to an ongoing right pectoral muscle strain. Maria's friend and compatriot Maria Kirilenko was leading 6-4, 2-1 when Sharapova found she could no longer play. Sharapova's injury is the same one that forced her to withdraw from the Los Angeles tourney in August, and slowed her service speeds at the US Open.

Maria said: "Even if I couldn't walk I'd want to finish the match. It's something that I can't control. It's a very mysterious injury... comes on unexpectedly from day to day... I'm very disappointed, obviously. With every shot, with every forehand and serve I hit, it got worse and worse... it's very painful. I had an MRI in L.A. and they said it was just a muscle problem or inflammation. It's kind of up and down and it comes unexpectedly. I took a week and half off to get ready for the U.S. Open and after all that it was still not better, so that's a concern." AP story